System and method for providing scan chain for digital electronic device having multiple clock domains
US5909451A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 21, 1996 |
| Grant date | Jun 1, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 21, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01R31/318594
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A digital electronic circuit device comprises a plurality of circuit elements, a scan chain establishment element, and a unitary clock domain establishment element. The plurality of circuit elements define a plurality of clock domains, and circuit elements in each clock domain perform processing operations under control of a respective domain clock signal. The scan chain establishment element interconnects the circuit elements in a scan chain to facilitate loading and/or retrieval of a scan vector into and/or out of the digital circuit device. The unitary clock domain establishment element establishes a unitary clock domain for the circuit element when the scan chain establishment element is interconnecting the circuit elements in a scan chain. Thus, the scan vector will be loaded into or retrieved from the digital electronic circuit device using the single, unitary clock signal, thereby avoiding any necessity of using synchronizers or other elements for the scan chain which can complicate layout of the device.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.